30 NBA Players in 30 Days: Christian Wood
Day 24 of our 2023 NBA season countdown brings us to Texas once again to cover the Dallas Mavericks and their new acquisition, Christian Wood. The journeyman center has had an interesting career leading up to this point where he finds himself on a team that just made it to the WCF last year, and has a generational player in Luka Dončić. The 27-year-old big man who has been on six different teams before getting traded to the Mavs for Boban Marjanovic, Sterling Brown, Trey Burke, Marquese Chriss and Wendall Moore Jr. Wood is in a prime situation to earn himself a pretty hefty pay day this offseason. He is an unrestricted free agent this summer, and he will have all the opportunity to get minutes and hopefully start a nice pick and roll pairing with Dončić.The last couple of seasons have been interesting though, but not in terms of what Wood can do on the basketball court. The talk around him is more of how he fits in and how he utilizes his talents to fit in with the rest of the team. He has the ability to shut down any narrative that has come out about him, especially with a team that is trying to get back to where they were and this time, make it to the NBA Finals.
Wood is a highly talented big man. He has size and he can stretch the floor from beyond the arc. The Mavs had trouble in the WCF playing against the Warriors with their center tandem of Maxi Kleber and Dwight Powell. Both of them could not handle Kevon Looney, as he dominated that series on defense and on the offensive glass. Wood adds an offensive element that Dončić needs around him, aside from the plethora of switchable wings on the perimeter. He is a 6’10 center that posted 17.9 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 1.0 BPG, shot 50.1 FG%, and an insane 39 FG3%. The narrative amongst NBA people is that Wood’s character as a basketball player is not team friendly. Of course, guys don’t have to be a nice guy all the time in order to be a good player, but certain personalities can only fit given their circumstances. Jordan and Kobe vs. Duncan and Curry as leaders can both be beneficial to their team. With Wood, his attitude as one of the better players on the team for the Rockets the last two years has soured his place with coaches and teammates. Last year, there was an ESPN report of him saying that he was “surprised” that the Rockets went on a nice 7-game winning streak last year. I know the Rockets were bad last year, but to hear one of the older and better players on the team say that is just not the greatest of looks. The very next month, Wood did not start a game against the Denver Nuggets, and later on he refused to enter the game in the 2nd half after he was called out on his effort level during halftime. It’s stories like these where this narrative of Wood has grown into what it is today. It’s tough being a talented player on a team that is clearly trying to be bad. Especially with how his career has gone, fighting and scratching for every opportunity, I’m sure it bothered Wood that he had to go through two seasons of being in the lottery after finally being able to get his big break in the league. He now finds himself on a team with a clear pecking order, especially with Dallas revolving around Dončić.
If there’s any opportunity for a player to change the narrative that surrounds them, this is the perfect one for Wood. Being on a new team with a clear role, as well as a chance to compete at the highest level was probably all he wanted as a player. He should be highly motivated to be playing in a real pro-level system and for a franchise that knows a little something about big men that can shoot. I expect Wood to have a very productive season, and he could have some moments in the regular season and the playoffs. As long as he is in a consistent role, he can be one of the better contributors who have found themselves playing for a new team.
